The brief is about an awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS with IOHA being our client and we had to choose a barrier method of our choice, find information about the chosen method and lastly to make your own awareness poster with the design skills we have acquired
HIV is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus which is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infections making a person vulnerable to other infections and diseases. It is spreads by the contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, this can spread in a number of ways, but the most common spread is caused by unprotected sex of any sort, sharing of medical needles for drugs. HIV is not curable but can be kept under control by taking HIV medicine (Anti-Retroviral Therapy/ART) and implementing different prevention methods that may help decrease the virus strength.
If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), the last stage of HIV. A person with HIV is considered to have progressed to AIDS when the number of their CD4 cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimetre of blood (200 cells/mm3). (In someone with a healthy immune system, CD4 counts are between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.) or they develop one or more opportunistic infections regardless of their CD4 count.
Testing is voluntary/optional and if you are uncomfortable with going to your local health services you can do a self-testing in the comfort of your own home. If you are infected or suspect that you might be infected with HIV you could visit your local clinic for treatment like PEP, PrEP, ART etc. This could also reduce risks of females from infecting their children during pregnancy.
The symptoms of HIV vary depending on the stage of infection. Though people living with HIV tend to be most infectious in the first few months after being infected, many are unaware of their status until the later stages. In the first few weeks after initial infection people may experience no symptoms or an influenza-like illness including fever, headache, rash or sore throat.
As the infection progressively weakens the immune system, they can develop other signs and symptoms, such as swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhoea and cough. Without treatment, they could also develop severe illnesses such as tuberculosis (TB), cryptococcal meningitis, severe bacterial infections, and cancers such as lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma.
Prevention can also be abstaining from any sexual or substance activities alongside the other barrier methods.
Female condoms, also known as Femidom or internal condom is one of the barrier methods used to prevent pregnancy and/or the potential exposure to sexually transmitted infections/diseases (STI/STDs) during a sexual intercourse. Female condoms are thin, soft, loose-fitting sheath with a flexible ring/frame at the closed end, the condom can be inserted up to eight hours before a sexual intercourse. The female condom was developed in the late 20th century. A primary motive for its creation is the well-documented refusal of some men to use a condom because of loss of sensation and the resulting impact on the hardness of the man's erection, and secondarily by its implication that the male could transmit an STI.
There are types of female condoms, namely, First generation Female Condom (FC1) was first made from polyurethane, the Second-generation Female Condom (FC2) is made from synthetic nitrile which are less likely to make potential crinkling noise and lastly the VA w.o.w Condom Feminine which are latex condoms. The per unit price of female condoms is higher than male condoms. Research suggests that the FC2 female condoms are a cost-effective method of HIV prevention even at low levels of use. The data shows that the cost-effectiveness would increase significantly at higher levels of use. A study conducted in 2005 by David Holtgrave, Chair of the TesDepartment of Health, Behaviour and Society at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, examined the projected public health impact that the FC2 female condom would have at different levels of use in two developing countries: South Africa and Brazil. The study concluded that FC2 use would generate significant cost savings at all levels of implementation by preventing thousands of HIV infections and saving millions of dollars in health care costs. There is some evidence to suggest that the effectiveness of female condoms in preventing transmission of HIV may be similar to that of male condoms.
Some disadvantages to the female condom include causing irritation of the genital area in people of both sexes (including irritation of the vagina, vulva, penis, or anus), slipping into the vagina or anus during vaginal or anal intercourse and even reduce sensation during intercourse.
The advantages are that the FC2 Female Condoms gives women control and choice over their own sexual health, women can protect themselves when their partner does not want to use a male condom. Female condoms may provide enhanced sensation for men as compared to male condoms. FC2 is hypo allergenic and is safe to use with people who are allergic to rubber latex, they may be inserted hours before intercourse, female condoms are not dependent on the penis being erect for insertion and does not require immediate withdrawal after ejaculation, FC2 is not tight or constricting; FC2 is highly lubricated and the material warms to body temperature.
The external genitals of the wearer and the base of the penis of the inserting partner may be better protected (from skin-to-skin transmitted STDs such as herpes and HPV) than when the male condom is used.
These are some examples of existing awareness posters; they are every simple and use simple colours that correlate with what the poster is about. The posters use very distinguished colours such as red, grey, black and white.
The images below are examples of existing awareness posters related to female condoms. they are colourful and playful when it comes to illustrations with simple contrasting colours. The smart colour schemes make the poster more interesting and visually appealing to the reader.
The following are already existing posters and are one of the posters I liked seeing that they are pretty much self- explanatory. They are eye catching, simple but show off all the necessary key aspects that explain the purpose of each of the posters. Even though there is limited print on the posters, the message is clear as to what the designer wanted to say and show people, the illustrations are demanding, and they tell you all there is to know.
I would have liked if they included a little information regarding the HIV/AIDS to make them more informative so that people could get a better understanding of the posters and to make them more of awareness posters than just posters with illustration.
The posters below are my least favourite because the message is a little bit vague and the colour schemes are boring, the illustrations are limited giving the reader limited view to understand the posters and to enjoy view them. The poster on the far left only shows the symbol that symbolizes that it’s of a female but it won’t be clear to all people since they might not know it is that of women and get the wrong message portrayed by the poster. There are also limited print on these posters but unlike the ones above these ones are boring and not straight to the point.
The colours used in this image are playful with the yellow standing out and giving it that colourful playful feel. The illustrations in each frame tell their own story but somewhat complement each other. The dark colours used make it easier for the typing to pop and easily seen by the reader.
The image on the left shows the warm colours with the orange, red, maroon and yellow being used. The warmness of the image may illustrate the virus and how dangerous it is. The image on the right shows cold colours with black, blue, grey and white as the colours used. The coldness of the image may illustrate how HIV affects your body after infection and that you may not feel like your usual self since blue can also indicate cold and fever
These posters use the principles of design like focal point which the pictures that stand out and catch the viewers attention that also includes the hierarchy. the difference in writing is visible since there is a presence of primary and secondary fonts. the different images are placed in the middle and sides of the page which creates an aesthetically pleasing view. In the first concept the idea of the ovary having these thoughts is also a way to tell a person that it is important to protect your immune system from viruses and bacteria of all sorts which explains the x crosses on each thought of the ovary. It also has some information on the bottom of the page. The poster is more of an informative poster with the HIV symbol drawn on the bottom of the page.
The second drawing is a peach represented as a female organ which gives the reader the view that despite all its sweetness and juices it also needs protection for it to be well nourished, same concept applies for the vagina. This poster shows more of how to position and remove the condom from the vagina which is written with secondary font of hierarchy. The focal point of the images are shown by the positions they are draw. The bigger peach is the on that captures the attention of the viewer and also gives off what the poster is about. The symbol under the big font symbolizes the ovum indicating that this poster talks about female condoms.
The third concept of the candy wrap gives an impression that it is fun, exciting and is accessible, same goes with the condom which explains the wrapping technique. In this case the poster talks about having fun while protecting themselves but there is an issue of accessibility, they are expensive with some being affordable instead they should be free like male condoms. This concept of only male condoms being free gives the impression that it only takes a male condom to stop HIV which is wrong. The fonts used are very fun and playful.
The final concept is an improvement of the second concept which only has one peach in the middle as the female organ with the actual organ drawn inside the peach. The inspiration behind the peach design is from the peach emoji which has a connotative meaning 'butt' with vagina known as the kitty/ cat but in this case the peach is a more convenient option. Peaches have similar features in terms of the appearance and pH balance some examples being having a weak acid pH balance, odour, the seed being in the middle.
This is an awareness poster encouraging safe sex and for females to use a condom in order to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, it even gives the places where condoms are supplied.
The poster is playful yet serious which is illustrated by the image in the middle creating focal point. The hierarchy is used with the primary font placed on the top of the page which is the catch phrase to aid in the viewer understanding what the poster is about. The word 'vagina' is replaced with 'peach' due to the image, since I said they have similar features the print means that females should take care of their organs mainly the vagina by protecting it and using a condom or they should just leave/ abstain from any sexual activities. The secondary font on the bottom of the page which is the additional information regarding the purpose of the poster, it is a short but informative text that highlighted the 'important' information. The information is limited since the image is also self- explanatory and adding more information can throw of the message I want to send to the audience.
Split complementary Analogous
The posters above are the final concepts of the HIV/AIDS. The brown peach is the actual representation of the skin colour of a human with the dark shade being the outer labia and the lighter shade being the inner labia. The rest of the female organ is inside the peach. The red colours used on the vagina indicate the blood circulation within the organ and the bacteria that could attract viruses if not correctly taken care off. On the bottom of the page there is additional information the help better understand what the poster is entailing also including the IOHA contact details. This is a simple poster with a playful yet informative despite the information given below the image. The background contrasts the colours of the image drawing giving the viewer direct focus on the contents of the poster.
Focal point was achieved using brown and red shades to produce the product of the "peach". The interesting choice of colour on the peach draws attention to the reader then followed by the shades of red on the vagina and condom.
The heading is not too overpowering on the poster itself and its also big enough for the reader to see. The smaller text on the bottom of the page is in a white box showing the reader that there is more to the poster. Hierarchy in the small text is achieved by enlarging and boldening the statistics and the 'IOHA Offices'. The contrast is used to highlight the facts and for the reader to be drawn the writing style making them eager to want to know more.
Split complementary Analogous
The refined posters are a lot different from the previous ones in terms of making the more visually interesting,I had to change my colour palette to cater for the peach image. I had to change the condom and peach colours their original so they do not lose their reference. I also added outlines on the image to contrast the image from the rest of the poster and the white box was too much so I removed it. These posters outlines more of hierarchy, this was achieved by reducing the size of the "OR" in the title and making the stats more visual by increasing the sizes and boldening them. Everything else is the same.
sources consulted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_condom
https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids
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